Haze's magic emporium
by SatAMNerd15
Summary: One day, Cream meets a strange cat named Haze who claims to be a magic salesman. Wanting to get back at Shadow, she agrees to purchase a small potion. But when the hedgehog is turned into a chao, how will things play out?
1. Chapter 1

Hi, I wrote this one night when I was bored out of my skull, which means that I was willing to try even the most preposterous ideas. Njoy!

Shadow always tried to keep it casual. Maria was the only person who he liked to think had ever gotten beneath his tough exterior. Over the years he had grown more and more able at keeping his cool and playing the tough guy through any situation; but even he had his limits.

"Please Mr Shadow! I can't find him anywhere!"

Cream had been tugging at Shadow's arm for what seemed like hours. She had been out by herself in the city for the first time with Cheese, and had accidentally stumbled into an area that she had never been to before, even with her mother. Eventually, she had come across a small store that had what looked like some antique dolls in the window and had run in to examine the merchandise, forgetting her chao. Only minutes later had she realised her mistake and ran out of the store to find him gone.

She had been searching for hours; going deeper and deeper into the city until eventually she had come across Shadow, who coincidentally had been in the same area, trying to find solitude by disappearing amongst the hustle and bustle of the city.

"Leave me alone rabbit! I've got better things to do!"  
At that, Shadow yanked his arm forwards; unwittingly throwing the young rabbit to the floor in the process. She landed face first on the floor with a loud thump, which was soon followed by muffled sobs.

Acting quickly, Shadow bent down and picked her up, not wanting to pass himself off as a complete jerk as people began to stare at the two of them. He got Cream back onto her feet turned her to face him. She had a small trickle of blood running down her forehead but apart from that she seemed perfectly alright. Still, even from what little experience Shadow had with children, he knew how bad things were about to get.

"Look, I'm sorry ok? I just didn't want to…"

"Get off of me!"  
Cream yanked her arms away from Shadow and ran off into the crowd, screaming as she went. Shadow kicked himself for acting so stupidly to the young rabbit and then sped after her.

"Uh oh, Sonic isn't gonna be happy about this…"

Cream took a quick left into a small alley, not wanting Shadow to find her. After making sure the coast was clear, she sat down with her back to the wall and began crying into her fur.

"How... could... h – he... do that…. He's s – so mean!"

As cream began to wipe away the blood on her head with her glove, she heard a light, jolly, almost cartoonish voice whispering to her from the shadows.  
_"Anyone who's feeling down, ya came to the right part of town!"_

Cream looked around, confused. Where had that voice come from?

"_And anyone who wants to play, visit Haze's super fantabulous, extra tremendous, greatly stupendous magic emporium today!"_

Suddenly, a bright electric sign lit up on the wall of the alley, blinding Cream with dazzling neon greens and blues. She rubbed her eyes and squinted as she tried to make out what it said.

"Haze's Magic emporium?"

"Someone say my name?"  
Cream jumped as a large gloved hand came down on her shoulder. She looked behind her and saw a very strange sight. Standing directly behind her was a tall, thin grey cat, dressed from head to toe in a bright purple suit, with a sunflower yellow bow tie and a bright green bowler hat. He smiled at her with a grin that seemed to stretch over the whole of his face, sending a shiver down Cream's spine.

The young rabbit began shivering with fright as the cat came closer. He looked at her confused, and then took off his hat and bowed before her.

"Terribly sorry Miss, I didn't mean to scare you." He said in a strong cockney accent.

Cream took a deep breath and slowly pulled herself together. Not wanting to appear impolite, she curtseyed before the cat, causing him to laugh so loudly that it rung throughout the alleyway.

"What a polite young girl. For that, the first purchase is free!"

Cream straightened herself up and then walked towards the cat, intrigued.

"Purchase?"

The cat nodded and opened the jacket of his suit, revealing a variety of small bottles filled with stunningly bright potions.

"That's right! Hazelnutty McWhiskers is the name and magic is the game! Potions, broomsticks, wands, spells and everything a young with could want, I sell. I heard you crying out here and so I thought I'd help you out. After all, I've been so bored lately."

The cat grinned and made a face at Cream, which she couldn't help giggling at. Whoever he was, Haze was acting more like a clown then a salesman. He didn't really believe in magic did he?

"Magic? Witches? Are you serious?"

Haze nodded and closed his jacket.

"As serious as a lawyer in a library! You can call me Haze! Now, what may I ask, would you like as your first purchase. As I said, it's free of charge, but only this once."

Cream couldn't stop herself from sniggering. This guy was crazy! Still, she needed a laugh after what had just happened.

"Well, my chao is missing and…"

"And you want him back, along with a chance to teach Shadow a lesson or two!"  
Cream had to step back in surprise. Even if he was crazy, this guy was good! Was he a mind reader or something?

"How did you…."

"Cream! There you are!"

Shadow came speeding down the alleyway, grinding to a halt between her and Haze. He glared at Haze and waved his fist in front of him.

"Stay away from her you creep!"

"But Shadow, he's just…."

Haze grinned sadistically at Shadow, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a particularly small bottle full of a bright blue liquid that shined within the glass.

"So my little poppet, would you agree to a little payback as your first purchase?"

Cream had hardly any idea what was going on. Some insane cat was spouting all kinds of nonsense about magic and Shadow was ready to beat him without even asking for an explanation as to why he was talking to Cream! Without thinking, Cream quickly nodded, to which Haze responded by uncorking the bottle.

"And so your first purchase is complete. Until the chao is found he shall know what it is like to have such a lovely owner! I hope you both enjoy it!"

Without another word, Haze dropped the bottle, which burst in a cloud of blue smoke as it hit the floor. Cream lost sight of both Shadow and Haze, but heard a startling scream as the smoke engulfed her. It sounded like Shadow…

Just as the gas began to fade, she felt a small slip of paper being dropped into her hand.

"My card, should you ever wish to do business again."

Cream heard a small 'pop' as the smoke vanished and was startled to discover that Haze had completely disappeared, leaving a small black and red chao sitting on the floor, screaming in fright.

"Shadow?"

"Cream, what's happened to me?"

Cream stared dumbly at Shadow in silence, taking in all that had happened. Then suddenly, without warning she scooped Shadow into her arms and hugged him tightly, as if he were a doll.

"Shadow! You're so cute!"


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, SatAMNERD15 here with the next chapter of Haze's magic emporium. Before I show the next chapter, here are some review responses:

Dragonbreath1  
2007-12-08  
ch 1,

. . .Something's not right here.

. . .I LIKE this original character.

. . .I NEVER like original characters. But I LIKE this one.

. . .It must be magic.

Wow, thanks : ) I'm flattered that you like Haze. It could well be magic XD

Taranea  
2007-12-09  
ch 1,

well...certainly a unique storyline, I´ll give you that...

is haze your own creation? if so, kudos. I was wondering whether he´s from some other comic or cartoon...

you could do with a little more description (and maybe some proofreading to catch even the last missing commas or typos) but otherwise, it´s fine. I´m looking forward to what chao keeping is like and whether shadow will enjoy it...and I positively can´t WAIT for sonic´s reaction. XD

has he kept his chaos powers?

Yes, Haze is my own creation. However, I kinda based his clothes on Willy Wonka from Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. There are gonna be a lot of chapter (I hope) featuring many different Sonic characters and so I'm not sure if Sonic will get to see Shadow as a chao. As for his chaos powers, interesting point. I'll have to think about it…….. I've got it! Now read and find out!

Shadow struggled as hard as he could, but Cream held on tight. Whenever he thought that he was almost free she would just squeeze him harder, until he felt as though he was going to suffocate.

"Cream… I…. can't… breathe!"

"Oh, sorry Shadow."

Cream held Shadow forwards in her hands so that he was facing her, with his stubby new chao legs dangling in the air. He was still finding it hard to take in what had just happened. One second he had been defending Cream from some weirdo salesman and now he was a chao!

"I didn't mean to hurt you Shadow, you're just so adorable. You could be Cheese's brother!"

Shadow felt himself blushing as Cream laughed at his expense. He had no desire to hurt the young rabbit, but he once again felt rage building inside of him.

"Stop laughing at me, Cream…."

"Once I find Cheese I'm gonna take you home with us! I'll even find you your own bow tie!"

"Stop it Cream……"

"I wonder what kind of chao fruit you'll like best. I'll bet you'd love to see the chao garden as well!"

"You had better stop it right now Cream…."

"And I'll bet you'll do just great in the chao races too!"

"I SAID SHUT UP YOU STUPID RABBIT! CHAOS BLAST!"  
Cream nearly dropped Shadow in surprise. She felt an aura of energy around her, as if Shadow was calling powerful forces for aid. She could see hate bubbling up in his eyes, as if his head were about to explode.

She dropped Shadow and covered her eyes, expecting to be hit with the full force of Shadow's chaos blast. However, the strange aura soon vanished and, rather than the deafening blast that she had expected, a small 'pop' was al that she heard. She took her hands away from her eyes and look down at Shadow, who was holding onto a small yellow piece of paper.

"Ouch! That hurt Cream!"

Ignoring the small black chao, Cream snatched the paper and began to read.

"Let's see - Chao potion, terms of use?"

Shadow looked up at Cream, confused. Since when did you ever hear about magic potions having terms of use?

"What terms? Does it say how I can change back?"

"Let's see: 'Number 1, the victim can only change back once the task given to him by the seller is complete'. 'Number 2, should the victim harm its owner in any way the change will become irreversible'. 'Number 3, any powers previously held by the victim shall be changed to suit his new needs as a chao. Thank you and have a nice day?"

"What did he mean by changing my powers to suit my needs as a chao?"

Suddenly, as if they had been given a cue by Shadow, several chao toys appeared in the air and rained down upon the terrified chao. A large yellow beach ball landed directly on one of his now shrunken red and black spikes, popping on impact. Cream tried to stop herself from laughing as Shadow threw it away and glared at her.

"So how am I supposed to change back? He never gave me a task to complete! That damn cat cheated me!"

Cream pondered the note silently for several seconds before folding it and placing it in her pocket. She began to pace the alleyway, thinking about what it meant by 'the task'.

Ignoring Shadow, Cream tried desperately to think about what Haze had said to her before he had vanished. The task for Shadow… It was on the tip of her tongue…..

"He wants you to…. Cheese!"

"What?"

Cream quickly grabbed Shadow again and ran out of the alleyway, holding him to her chest as she proceeded. She felt Shadow screaming into her chest, and held him out slightly so that he could speak.

"Cream? Where are we going?"

As the young rabbit girl wove in and out of the crowds, the hedgehog once again began to struggle. He didn't want to be taken anywhere against his will. For all he knew, Cream could be taking him to some other weirdo who had more insane magic to try out on him!

Cream looked at all the shops they passed by as she ran. She needed to find Cheese to change Shadow back, and she had seen enough detective cartoons to know that the best place to start looking was the place where Cheese had disappeared.

"Don't you get it Shadow? It's Cheese! He wants you to find Cheese!"

"Huh?"

"Before he left, he told me 'Until the chao is found he shall know what it is like to have such a lovely owner'. I think it means that you won't change back until we find Cheese!"

As Cream began to slow down, Shadow pondered the thought in his head. Haze had mentioned Cream getting 'revenge' on him before disappearing and he had refused to help her find Cheese. Was this supposed to amount to some stupid lesson? He didn't know; neither did he care. All he knew, as Cream came to a halt outside a particular shop with antique dolls in the window, was that he had been given the task of locating a single chao in a colossal city. He didn't like his odds.

"Ok Shadow, this is where I lost Cheese. We should start looking here."

"Cream?"

Cream looked down at the Shadow, who had finally stopped struggling and was looking at her with calm red eyes.

"No offence, but do you think you could put me down? It's kinda embarrassing."

Smiling sweetly, Cream lowered her arms and let Shadow jump to the floor. The way she saw it, keeping Shadow calm was going to get a lot more done than making fun of him would. How knew? Maybe Shadow would be able to spot something cream had missed from his height.

"Ok Shadow, lets start looking around. See if Cheese left anything behind."

Shadow nodded and began crawling across the floor, searching for any sign of the lost chao. In the meantime, Cream did her best to keep the crowds away from him. No matter how powerful Shadow had been as a hedgehog, he was just a chao now and if anyone stepped on him…..

"Cream! Take a look at this!"

With her arms spread out to keep the crowds away, Cream bent towards Shadow to examine his findings. He was pointing towards an unspecific part of the road. It didn't stick out in any way, let alone give any clues as to where Cheese had gone. Shadow soon saw the confusion on Cream's face and his triumphant smile faded.

"What, don't you see it? Cheese was standing right here! I think he went…. This way!"

Just as she was about to protest, a sly thought entered crème's mind. Without facing Shadow, she proceeded in the direction he had specified, sniggering to herself as she walked.

"Wow Shadow, maybe you picked him up on that little antenna of yours."

Not wanting to appear annoyed, Shadow ran after Cream on his stumpy chao legs, cursing her under his breath.

"So Shadow, if you know that Cheese went this way, can you tell how far away he is?"

"Sure. I'd say he's about fifty metres away, at the most."

Cream stopped and turned to Shadow. She bent right down so that the two of them were face to face and grinned slyly at him, as if she were holding a knife behind her back.

"Then I guess we'll get to him quicker if we fly, which means I'll have to give you a ride."

"Fly? Cream I don't want to…."  
Ignoring Shadow, Cream scooped him up in her arms and took off. Shadow once again began to struggle, but as he looked down and saw the people shrinking as they rose upwards, he decided to keep his cool. After all, at this point it was all he really had left.

There's the next chapter. While I was writing this I got an awesome idea for how this section of the story is going to end. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please read and review!


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